I have been reading The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Philosophy by Jack Kornfield, and I want to share with you some passages from Chapter 16: “Suffering and Letting Go” that really struck me.
…A reporter once pressed the Dalai Lama about his opt-quoted statement that he does not hate the Chinese Communists, in spite of their systematic destruction of Tibet. In reply, the Dalai Lama explained, “They have taken over Tibet, destroyed our temples, burned our sacred texts, ruined our communities, and taken away our freedom. They have taken too much. Why should I let them also take my peace of mind?” Because he had learned to let go, the Dalai Lama can work more freely to create a better future for Tibet. He knows that clinging to suffering is not the way…
..In Buddhist Asia [as well as in the West], popular culture mischaracterizes nirvana, imagining it as a heavenly realm where old monks go after many lifetimes’ work of purity and self-denial…[we should] look for nirvana in the simplest ways, in everyday moments. “Nirvana,” he would say, “is the coolness of letting go, the inherent delight in experience when there is no grasping or resistance to life. It is always available.”…We know how to do this. We love to let go of the world at night when we go to sleep. Letting go and having a good night’s sleep is delicious. Letting go while we are awake is delicious, too…
…When we let go of being the one who suffers, we are free to bring blessings wherever we go…
MAR
